The name of this approach contains two notions that require explanation: catena and dependency grammar.
A first section will explain the central notions string, catena,
component, and constituent. An outline of a dependency grammar built on these notions can be found
in the second section. A final section comments in a general fashion on the status and the usefulness of this approach.
If you are not familiar with dependency grammar you will want to read the sections in the right order, i.e. the order shown below.